C
70 MODERN CLASSICS
HEAD TO HEAD
rafting a great grand
tourer isn’t easy.There’sa
formula: big, lustyengine
at the front, powerto the
rear, a plush interiorand
the ability to make
crossing Europefeellikea
trip to the supermarket.
BMW had experienced mixed
results in the GT market. TheE9 and
E24 6 Series were well-loved,if not
blessed with the same low-down
thump of GT rivals from Porscheand
Mercedes-Benz. Its effortsto counter
them with the more expensive,softer
8 Series didn’t come off – itarrived
just as consumer tastes were
changing, and in time for aworldwide
recession that hammered luxurycar
sales in the early 1990s.
For the millennium, BMWreverted
to the 6 Series name, and setoutto
shock. Borrowing heavily fromChris
Bangle’s 1999 Z9 concept car,Adrian
van Hooydonk’s finished designwas
controversial, coming in themidstof
the furore over BMW’s design
direction. ‘Too ugly!’ cried thecritics,
with the oddly-styled posteriorbeing
one of the major criticisms.
Thepublicthoughtdifferently,with
around130,000examplesof varying
f l avoursfindinghomesinsixyears.
That’s100,000morethanthe 8 Series
managedintenyears,and50,000
more thantheE24didin13 years.
So,15 yearsafterthefirstE63
6 Seriesrolledoutof showrooms,
we’vebroughttogethertwoof itsmost
extremeincarnations.First,the
stormingten-cylinder,500bhpM6.
Verylittlegetsnearit forthe£15,000
you’llneedfora useablecar,interms
ofperformanceperpound.Thebestgo
for justshyof £30,000–andforthat
money,onlya BentleyContinentalGT
ora leggyAstonDB9comesclosefor
blood-curdlingpunch.Or doesit?
Sayhelloto theAlpinaB6,herein
super-limitededitionSform.You
tradetwocylindersfora supercharger,
andinreturnyougetmorepowerand,
crucially,muchmoretorquethanthe
M6. Agoodonewilltroubleyoufor
£30k,if youcanfindone–if theM6 is
rare,thentheB6 is exclusive.
So,twotakesontheultimateE63,
10 23bhpandanaudiencecomprising
NorthYorkshire’smostbemused
sheep.WhichonenailstheGTbrief?
It’sneverbeena beautifulcar,the
M6. Inthemid-2000swe were
blessedwithallsortsof mega-power
GTs andonlytheBentleyContinental
GTcouldrivalit forbrutalpresenceat
the expenseof AstonandMaser-style
prettiness.Nextto theAlpina,
however,theM6 seemssubdued.In
isolationthatmightseemridiculous.
The MDepartmentspeccedhuge19in
alloys,quadpipesandanaggressive
bodykitthataddedmuscularityto the
slightlysquidgy6 Seriesshape.
The Alpina,ontheotherhand,looks
li keit’sbeenmainliningsteroids
throughthecoolingductsonits
carbon-fibrebonnet.Thisitemwas
bespoketo theSmodel,buttheyallgot
the gargantuansplitterbearingthe
Alpinanameandtheequallyengorged
reardiffuser.Thosegorgeousalloys
measure20in,andthere’sAlpina
pinstripingtoo.Theclichégoesthat
Alpinasarethethinkinggentleman’s
Beemer,andmorediscreet,butthat’s
clearlynotthecasehere.It’san
acquiredtaste,perhaps,butformeit’s
doingthebusinessinthelowsunlight.
That’snotto saythereisn’tintrigue
totheMcar–farfromit.Thefront
Quite a
sight. The
sound’s
something
else...
